Antiques: Autumn antiques update
The antiques market has always been an interesting one due to its, well, messiness. It's a highly fragmented business with no industry giants, and some categories zoom even as others crash and burn. It's also very trendy. While the mid-century movement is still riding the wave, no trend lasts forever: witness Victorian, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, Bauhaus, Post-Modernism, etc. etc.
My own crystal ball is completely opaque when it comes to identifying the next big thing, but it doesn't hurt to take an occasional look at what's hot and what's not in the here and now. So here goes.
On the positive side, millenials seem to be getting into the spirit of antiquing, at least somewhat. As that generation begins to settle down (i.e., get married, buy a house, have kids), they are starting to buy more and more items with a retro vibe. The overpriced but still useful website 1stDibs reports that more than 60% of its vintage orders from millenials consist of home furnishing: lighting, chairs and tables, wall art and similar.
It seems that the youngsters among us are developing an appreciation for the craftsmanship in such items while eschewing the mass produced nature of IKEA and others. Good news for galleries like ours.
Nonetheless, not all trends are heading north. Demand for certain items has nearly flat-lined. Anything to do with formal dining rooms — china cabinets, hutches, elaborate dining tables — are not moving and show no signs of recovery any time soon. Mantel clocks, pianos and elegant porcelain are also on life support.
Young people today want to remain mobile and not get bogged down with a lot of unappealing possessions. Likewise, the manufactured collectibles category, so vital in the 1990s, has all but dried up and withered away. Brands such as Hummel, Franklin Mint, Lladro, Limoges and Royal Doulton have become very slow movers. Most eventually wind up in thrift stores.
As for the antique space as a whole, one recent industry report (IBIS) figured its 2022 aggregate size to be around $3.6 billion, with some 13,000 businesses employing more than 45,000 people. During the five years between 2017 and 2022, the category grew at a respectable 3.6% annual rate. That's faster than the overall economy during that same period, but slower than just the goods-and-services sector.
The combination of stable prices and available inventories likely helped the antique trade during the depths of COVID, but, looking forward, a slowing economy will mean less discretionary spending in the near future. Thus the reasons for my murky crystal ball.
So what's happening here in the Coachella Valley? The mid-century movement remains alive and well, and new housing projects continue to pop up from the sand. It may be that some savvy Canadians bailed out of local home ownership during the real estate frenzy that ended last year, but we still expect our snowbird friends to begin arriving as usual in the next few weeks.
Barware, books, lighting and oddities have been good sellers of late, with vintage clothing and watches finally getting some play. The season's special events kick off with today's Vintage Market on Baristo from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring parking lot sales (our own among them) and the mini-Modernism show to follow shortly thereafter.
If you're already here, welcome back. And if you're not here yet, the weather is once again just fine.
Mike Rivkin and his wife, Linda, are longtime residents of Rancho Mirage. For many years, he was an award-winning catalogue publisher and has authored seven books, along with countless articles. Now, he's the owner of Antique Galleries of Palm Springs. His antiques column appears Sundays in The Desert Sun. Want to send Mike a question about antiques? Drop him a line at info@silverfishpress.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Antiques: Autumn antiques update
